Gore and the Media in the 2000 election

I caught up to this article in Vanity Fair while visiting my brother for the holidays, it was in the October issue:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2007/10/gore200710

Now, my friends might very well tell me to get over the 2000 election already, but part of me never will. Moreover, we still have much to learn from what happened. With the 2008 election battle heating up, I hope some of those same mistakes don't happen again.

The piece does an excellent job of detailing how two reporters, Katharine Seelye of the New York Times, Ceci Connolly from The Washington Post lead the way in beating up on Gore with distorted information and misquotes. The entire MSM latched on to the 'exaggerations' storyline and went into a feeding frenzy over irrelevancies like Gore's "sigh's" during the first debate with Bush. We are given several examples of the outright distain for Gore and cynicism that carries through the news articles. This type of journalism is a long way from the work of the legendary "Johnny" R. W. Apple, who covered camapaigns and was the Washington Bureau chief for the Times for years.
On the editorial pages, Maureen Dowd belittled Gore at every turn.
So, the question is, what happened? Why did the national media cover Gore with distain and Bush with kid gloves? Were they manipulated? Was this the outcome of a self-loathing "liberal media" turning on a progressive politician? After the Clinton years was the MSM overly cynical?

Perhaps the MSM just acted like sheep:

The trivial continued to dominate during the postmortem following Gore and Bush's first debate, on October 3, 2000. The television media were sure Gore won—at first. But then Republican operatives promptly spliced together a reel of Gore sighing, which was then sent to right-wing radio outlets. Eighteen hours later, the pundits could talk of little else. "They could hear you audibly sighing or sounding exasperated as Governor Bush was answering questions," Katie Couric scolded him the next day on the Today show. "Do you think that's presidential behavior?" For the Times's Frank Bruni, the sighs weren't as galling as Gore's familiarity with the names of foreign leaders. "It was not enough for Vice President Al Gore to venture a crisp pronunciation of Milosevic, as in Slobodan," he wrote. "Mr. Gore had to go a step further, volunteering the name of Mr. Milosevic's challenger Vojislav Kostunica."

Which candidate can do the best job fighting against this in 2008? I have to think it's Hillary Clinton, given all of her experience in the battle with the 'vast right wing conspiracy'.

For more on the MSM echo chamber read Media Matters: http://mediamatters.org/items/200612160001

Thoughts?

Al Gore in the Oval Office again.

What a photo:


Gore visited the White House this week as a Nobel Prize winner.

Gore Wins Nobel Peace Prize

Does this make up for getting robbed of the Presidency?
I wish he could run, but he won't and it's probably the right thing for him but . . .

Justice Thomas full of contradictions

Clarence Thomas logic makes my head spin. Frank Rich gets it right in his op-ed piece.

Can Democrats win without White Male votes? (yes!)

From this week's Salon.com:

So long, white boy

Could 2008 be the year that Democrats finally admit an old sweetheart is never coming back, and stop pandering to the white male voter?

By Thomas F. Schaller

Sept. 17, 2007 | Those who have been closely following the politics of the Democratic primaries may have noticed that someone is missing -- and I'm not referring to Bob Shrum, the Rev. Al Sharpton or an as-yet-undiscovered "Gravel Girl."

I'm talking about the white male voter, or at least a certain long-coveted variety thereof. He is variously known as "NASCAR dad" -- that shirt-sleeved, straight-talkin', these-colors-don't-run fella who votes his cultural values above all else -- or "Bubba," as Steve Jarding and Dave "Mudcat" Saunders affectionately call him in their book, "Foxes in the Henhouse." Start looking on milk cartons for Bubba because he has vanished, and not a moment too soon: The Democratic obsession with the down-home, blue-collar, white male voter, that heartbreaker who crossed the aisle to the Republicans many decades ago, may finally be coming to a merciful end.

Read more

A note on Liberals

I found this passage from a Slate article by Charles Taylor to ring true:

"Liberals have an unfortunate tendency to confuse compromise with corruption, to mistake the ballot box for the confessional and assume the choice made therein should leave our souls clean. (That's why so many of us have gone off the deep end and voted for Nader.) The challenge the Clintons have always posed to liberals is the challenge of growing up and realizing how things get done. "

Rudy calls Dems "Party of Losers"; Biden Responds.

So, I thought Rudy was trying to make the case that he is most electable and will draw Democratic and Independent votes. Well, calling Democrats "losers" is probably not the best way to do that. Senator Joe Biden, who I think has been the most aggressively vocal critic among the legitimate contenders in this campaign, responded forcefully. Well done, Senator, Bravo.

Here is the original story in the USA Today.

Salon covered Rudy's comments on their War Room page.

I certainly like the way Senator Biden has been on the attack, and his voice has been strong in the debates, especially on Foreign Policy. Has he come on too strong? What do people think? It's tough to cut through the crowd on that stage, so at least it gets him noticed and demostrates the power of his convictions. I think the real challenge for Biden is to break through the perception that he is really just the top candidate for Secretary of State in the next Democratic administration.

The GOP and its struggles with the English Language

You know, the fact that many Rebublicans say "Democrat Party" instead of "Democratic Party" is a pet peeve of mine. My friend Rob chimes in in his usual amusing and insightful way on his blog, Captain Oblivious.

So, it's come to this. Anyone surprised?

Last Friday, the Washington Post published a story discussing Senator Clinton's cleavage.

Keeping tabs on how the MSM (mainstream media) treats the first woman to be a major party frontrunner could be a full time job, and would probably drive me nuts.

During Monday night's CNN YouTube Debate, Anderson Cooper let a 'regular American' do the dirty work for him and ask how the leaders of Muslim nations, where "women are second class citizens", are going to take a woman president seriously during things like diplomacy and negotiations (Ask Madaleine Albright about that, who as Secretary of State actually did the job. And yes, I did not mention Condoleeza Rice).

And, if you like to read about candidate wardrobe (remember the stuff about Al Gore's earthtones in 2000?), the NY Times weighs in.

Interesting interview with Elizabeth Edwards.

I really admire her for speaking up and confronting Ann Coulter recently on MSNBC's Hardball.

She also speaks up in favor of marriage equality.


Here's her appearance on the Today Show a few weeks ago.

Georgia on the verge of executing an innocent man

The state of Georgia is about to execute an innocent man:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1643384,00.html

Thankfully, a 90-day stay has been issued:
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/07/16/davis_0716.html

Will "Bloomberg's Folly" elect another GOP President?

Having observed Mike Bloomberg from just across the river for his entire political career, I have a hard time believing he will run for President just for the ego trip and his need to get rid of large sums of money.
He will have to beleive he can win.
Well, the Times recently profiled the guy who is working on that.
The article mentions that this guy, Kevin Skeekey (who has done a great job for Bloomberg so far, really) has an associate, Korrine Kubena, who just became a top aide to Karl Rove.
Now it starts to come together! Here comes Rove again, with a way to insure another GOP victory: get a liberal to run a third party campaign (preferably someone with billions to spend), siphon off a large chunk of votes from the Democratic nominee (20%?) and presto: President President Fred Thomson!
Rove must be chortling and rubbing his hands together in finest evil guy fashion. Bloomberg's possible ambitions present a much more promising scenario than getting Ralph Nader to run again in the hopes of a Florida-redux.
I can only hope that Mayor Bloomberg comes to his senses. Does he have any relationship with the Clintons? Perhaps Bill needs to pay him a visit and urge him to spare the nation another idiot President ala Bush.

Olbermann Calls for Resignations

In the wake of"Scooter-gate", Keith Olbermann of MSNBC delivered a strongly worded call for Bush and Cheney to resign:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19588942/

Nixon must be rolling over in his grave over what bush can get away with (or will he?)

Hillary Spoofs the Sopranos

In announcing her new campaign song today, Hillary Clinton unveiled a 'Sopranos'-spoof video. See it for yourself on her site:
http://www.hillaryclinton.com/.

I wonder if my friends at the Sons of Italy are going to take her to task for "offending Italian Americans." As one, I certainly am not; smart way to leverage a cultural phenomenon.

Back in 2004 I asked friends to share with me favorite campaign songs, or ones that should be, for a mix/itunes playlist I sent around. I will have to post that here and talk about Hillary's new song too. This might seem like a trivial thing, but as a former advance person, I know how important it is to set a theme at an event with music. One of my fondest campaign memories took place on election eve, 1992 at the Meadowlands arena, listening to a live performance of Sam Cooke's classic "A Change is Gonna Come."

Back to Hillary: I was lucky to be able to attend a Hillary event here in NJ on Monday night. (The song they used was "Suddenly I see", not the Celine song that won the contest and was announced the next morning.) I wanted to see if I could absorb some enthusiasm for the Hillary campaign. (I haven't decided who I am supporting yet.) There were lots of young people there working as volunteers (all women, how great!), and many of the folks I talked to were quite passionate in their support. One up and coming NJ operative who was there, however, referred to the Clintons as old and tired and relying on calling in favors for support.

I need to post an entry here about Susan Estrich's book, "The Case for Hillary". I just finished it and I am near-convinced.

Another interesting topic for discussion in a future post: What role should President Clinton have in this campaign? What role will he have?

What Happened to Camille Paglia??

Camille Paglia has lost it.
Have you been reading Camille Paglia's columns on Salon? Seriously, I ignored the early critics of these columns as rants from haters, but now I see for myself . . . can Ms. Paglia still consider herself a feminist? Where does all this hate come from? I think we on the left need to stop paying attention to people like this (she is on her way to becoming Christopher Hitchens!) Can you imagine how the world would change if we elected a woman president? Yet, here she is foaming with hatred for Hillary. Al Gore has done so much to advance the issue of global warming, but here she is, not only insisting he ought not run for president, but accusing Gore of HARMING the environmental movement?!?!? Yeah, because it was going so well before his book and movie. Did Exxon and Halliburton send flowers, gifts or cash in thanks? "Basta", enough, as my nonna would say.



read more | digg story

Fred Thomson's 'Red Truck' a sham!

Media Matters has the truth behind the 'folksy' Fred Thomson and the 'Red Truck' he 'drove' around TN for his Senate campaign.
It was a rental, and he didn't even drive it!
Read more: http://mediamatters.org/items/200706020001

What does a girl have to do to get excommunicated? | Salon.com

Good piece from Frances Kessling



read more | digg story

compact fluorescent light bulbs

Compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL's). you know what those are right? The energy saving bulbs that look like this (photo on the right),


and we are all urged to start using them to help save the planet. Basically, they use much less electricity and will reduce carbon emissions significantly. If you saw An Inconvenient Truth, it was on the list of things you can do to help slow global climate change. Now, I always hated the quality of the light from these things, having seen them in hotel rooms in the early 90's, and my dad bought one for his house a while back when they were huge and expensive. However, I was game to give them another shot. We signed up for 'Green' power last year, my wife bought a hybrid Civic, and I thought replacing the incandescent bulbs in our apartment would be a good next step. (Incidentally, when my wife suggested we replace our bulbs right after we saw the movie, I insisted that the light was horrible, and 'vetoed' it.)
I had already replaced the bulbs in our hallway with CFL's. Light quality out there was not so much a concern, and I was tired of having to replace them all the time anyway. I did lots of searching for some bulbs I might like. Maybe if they didn't have that serpentine tubular shape, they would look more 'normal'? I found these at Lowes:

(The one on the left.) It's shaped like a normal bulb, and the package claimed it had a more 'natural' light. Installed them into the ceiling fixtures in our office/workout room, and then in the kitchen. Sadly, a colder, more bluish light than the previous bulbs. Also, they do take a few minutes to warm up and come on at full power. But, I was willing to live with it, to help assuage my guilt about power usage. Interestingly, my wife finds them annoying now.

OK, so I read this goofy article in the Washington Post about the gender issues with CFLs. I tended to agree with the Broadsheet article on Salon that mocked the Post for the fluff piece that threw around lots of gender stereotypes. Interestingly, the Brian Lehrer Show on Thursday had some info that had me second-guessing. Apparently, according to Gary Gordon, biologically, women usually have greater color perception than men, and that may be why we see stories about women allegedly objecting to these light bulbs more than me do.

So, I guess this is further evidence of the fact that I am a sensitive, Alan Alda-type man. I certainly noticed the difference in the quality of the light. I always hated looking at myself in the bathroom mirror where there was only an old fashioned fluorescent lamp above the sink. EVERYone looks bad in those mirrors. Those lamps lack those nice red tones from the warm part of the spectrum that make us look human.

Bottom line, though: Using these new CFL's, which aren't nearly as harsh as those old lamps I remember, is worth it. It cuts way back on the electricity needed to light the room, and that just makes sense environmentally and economically. Perhaps the companies developing these bulbs will come up will bulbs that produce a 'warmer' light eventually. That, I believe, will get more people to use them.
If anyone has come across a brand of CFL's that does that effectively, please let me know.

Here's a helpful guide from environmental defense.org

This guy reviews a bunch of bulbs: http://members.misty.com/don/cfapp.html

What about LEDs? They may be the future: http://www.helenair.com/articles/2007/05/11/ap/strange/d8p1ud183.txt

Funny campaign ad for Bill Richardson

Take a look at this new ad from the Bill Richardson campaign. It uses humor to try and drive home his campaign theme that he has the White House-bound resume.

What do you think? I've always be a proponent of ads that cut through the typical campaign ad clutter to get noticed. Back in the '97 NJ Gubernatorial campaign, Michael Murphy got lots of notice for his outside-the-box ads where he zipped around the state in a mini-van with kids asking questions.

Clerics for Justice in South America

Great story this morning on NPR about Catholics in Brazil fighting to save the rainforest from exploitation and agitating for Justice.

"The opposite of poverty is not wealth – it is justice. And the objective of liberation theology is to create a more just society, not necessarily a wealthier one. And the great question is, how do we do this?" - liberation theologian, Leonardo Boff.

"Morality is not just about sex. Morality in Jesus' mind means social morality, solidarity, responsibility, ethics – that is morality. And you cannot go to communion on Sunday, and on Monday destroy the forest. It is against the law of God." -Father Edilberto Sena

What's in a logo?

A discussion on the design of Presidential campaign logos.




I remember an op ed in the Times in 2004 that destroyed the Kerry-Edwards logo and 'predicted' victory based on logo designs in Presidential elections. I took issue with the author's conclusions at the time, but then again, he did predict the "outcome" correctly.

It may seem petty, but I DO think that there is something to be said for good design in politics. Every opportunity to convey a message needs to be utilized, and with two full years to 'brand' a candidate, maybe effective logo design does have impact.

Frivolous? What say you?

Marriage Equality is a Civil Rights Issue

In February of 2006 I sent this email to my friends on the topic of 'Gay' Marriage:

Amici,

I just wanted to share with you a wonderful experience that Nora and I
had on Valentine's Night. We attended a rally sponsored by Garden State
Equality on the eve of New
Jersey's Supreme Court hearing a same-sex marriage case. We heard
powerful witness from Laurel Hester, a terminally ill former
investigator with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office who successfully
fought to have her death and pension benefits go to her domestic
partner. We heard from many: clergy, both straight and gay, parents and
children of all ages, elected officials, -all in support of marriage
equality.

My position on this civil rights issue has evolved over the last several
years. I felt the right wing was using it as a wedge issue in the last
Presidential campaign and I bought into the rhetoric from some national
Democrats that civil unions were enough to protect the rights of our
fellow citizens. Well, a lot of good that did us. Our presidential
candidate was still defeated and national Democrats still didn't stand
up for what was right.

The recent passing of Coretta Scott King serves as a reminder that
"separate but equal" was unacceptable in the days of segregation, and it
is unacceptable today when it comes to the rights of LGBTI Americans.
It is apparent once you hear the many stories of those who have suffered
this discrimination, that there will only be justice when we extend this
basic human right to all.

I know that there are many people of faith in this country that are
unwilling to accept "same-sex marriage." (Luckily here in NJ recent
polls show a majority in favor of marriage equality.) Until the Roberts
Court tells us otherwise, we still have separation of Church and State
in the United States of America. I propose that the state define "civil
marriage" in a way that is fair and just for all our citizens, and that
we leave it up to individual denominations and faith communities to
determine what is appropriate "Holy Matrimony." This seems to be in the
appropriate tradition of America - I don't want to tell the Southern
Baptist Convention who can or can't participate in one of their
religious ceremonies; and I sure don't want them telling me who can or
can't get married at City Hall. This is a civil rights issue, not a
religious one.

(As a side note, some of you would call me out for making no mention of
my Catholic Church. Guilty on that count. That is a topic for another
time. The RC has a long way to go, like full participation of women in
the priesthood. In this case I am drawing a distinction myself between
Church and State and I'm focusing on the civil issue for the here and
now.)


Lastly, most politicians are ducking this issue (like so many) out of
fear.
Well, this is a good opportunity for the
people to show the way. I really think in my home state of NJ, where we
have a progressive track record on rights (first to grant gay couples
adoption rights), this will be a reality very soon.

Keep your eye on NJ, we may be making some history soon (thanks
Massachusetts!).

Thanks for reading.


Peace,


Joe

The Times on Gay Marriage

Is Apple an Environmental "Bad Guy"?

There's been some negative press lately for Apple Corp. regarding its environmental record, with Greenpeace picketing Apple events, and some email campaigns making the rounds. From what I can tell, it seems like Apple still has a way to go, but at worst it is on par with other Computer manufacturers, and given market share, a company like Dell is having a far greater negative impact. Apple does make its case, though. Perhaps this additional attention, and the presence of Al Gore on the BOT of Apple will help as well.
A couple of thoughts: Macs and ipods seem to have a long life. I believe data shows that Macs tend to be usable for a longer period than PCs (check out www.lowendmac.com), and become hand-me-downs. Also, Apple seems to have decent trade in policy (not that I would know, I have a de-facto Mac museum in the works).
Any ideas from my fellow Mac Lovers?

Greenpeace off the Mark

Red Herrings

Have you seen this email going around the net about George W. Bush's 'house' and Al Gore's?
(See below)

This is a classic case of folks on the right (the brokers behind Fox News, the Oil and Gas Industry, essentially those who have short term economic gain at stake in the battle to save the planet) DISTRACTING us from the issues at hand.

Of what relevance are the 'facts' about Al Gore's house and George Bush's ranch? Setting aside the accuracy of these reports about the Gore Household (and I will point out that the Gore's, like myself, purchase 'Green Power' from their local utility at greater expense than 'regular' power. Gore purchases carbon offsets for all of his travel. His family home is old and in a historic district of Belle Meade, and he has been in the process of getting zoning variances to add solar panels for some time. They have compact fluorescent light bulbs throughout the home and office, and they all drive hybrid vehicles. Do I need to go on?*)

Does it matter that Mr. Bush's ranch is a model of energy efficiency and 'green' construction? What of the destructive and damaging environmental policies of this administration to date?

The dissemination of this email is part of a larger campaign by the right to distract the public from the message Mr. Gore is promoting. The right wants people to be distracted by questions of Al Gore's personal energy usage (distorted, of course): to undermine his credibility. There is a long history of this (see links below). It worked in the 2000 election, so they are doing it to him again. Everyone reading this should be familiar with these tactics by now. Remember how John Kerry's service to his country in Vietnam was reduced to a questions about 'exaggerations' about his bravery for which he was awarded medals? And what was George Bush doing during Vietnam? Cheney? Limbaugh? And they didn't stop with him, how about former Georgia Senator Max Cleland who lost limbs in service to his country? In the current election battle we already have the false accusations about Barack Obama's education in a Muslim madrassa, and this week, stories about John Edwards expensive haircuts and obsession with his looks (and Limbaugh calling him the real 'woman candidate' in the race, and the hateful slur used by Ann Coulter).

Ask yourself, "what is the process here?" This has been documented in the book "The Way to Win" (Halperin and Harris). Essentially, someone makes something up/distorts the truth, and publishes it in a blog or website somewhere. From there it enters the media echo chamber, usually Fox News, the Washington Times, and other outlets controlled by the right wing start reporting the 'story'. Then the existence of the story itself 'legitimizes' its coverage by the 'mainstream media' and it appears in the NYTimes, CNN, etc. Then the opinion magazines like the New Republic publish pieces about the 'fact' and its impact and the insight it gives on the character of the target.

So, to majority of the public, these falsehoods and character assassinations become part of the background of information they know about a candidate or public figure.

Just when there was an opportunity to convince 'regular folks' who are not liberals or environmentalists that we have a crisis of Global Climate Change, the 'machine' tells them not to believe Al Gore. "He's a hypocrite! An exaggerator! Look, a frozen flag in Buffalo!** There is no global Warming going on! Worry about the terrorists who want to kill you and the gays who want to convert your children, get married and live next door to you!"

I wish I had a solution to this. But perhaps if some of us can call attention to the real issues at hand when these red herrings come our way, we can do our part to bring America's focus back to where it needs to be: striving for a better world.


Resources:

*Citations for Gore energy use: http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070227/NEWS01/702270382
Details of the slanted coverage of the Gore House issue: http://mediamatters.org/items/200703010008?offset=20&show=1
Media revive, retool, and create anti-Gore smears and attacks: http://mediamatters.org/items/200703230004
Al Gore Bio: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Gore
Media Bias: http://www.eriposte.com/media/bias/media_bias_gore.htm
Gore Myths: http://www.algoresupportcenter.com/goretruth.html
Obama school disinformation: http://thinkprogress.org/2007/01/19/fox-obama-madrassa/
** Inohofe thinks globe getting too cold: http://www.nysun.com/article/50932?page_no=2


Joe Giglio
Jersey City, NJ

***********************************




-----Original Message-----
From:
---------- Forwarded message ----------

Some facts probably many people do not know. Be sure to read all the way to the end. You will find it very interesting.


HOUSE # 1: This house has 20-rooms (not including 8 bathrooms) and is heated by natural gas. In addition, there is a pool (and a pool house) and a separate guest house all heated by gas. In an average month, this house consumes more energy than the average American household in an average year. The average bill for electricity and natural gas runs over $2,400 per month. In natural gas alone, this property consumes more than 20 times the national average for an American home. This house is not in a northern or Midwestern "snow belt". It's in the South.




HOUSE # 2: Designed by an architecture professor, this house incorporates every green" feature current home construction can provide. The house contains only 4,000 square feet (4 bedrooms) and is nestled on arid high prairie in the American southwest. A central closet in the house holds geothermal heat pumps drawing ground water through pipes sunk 300 feet into the ground. The water (usually 67 degrees F.) heats the house in winter and cools it in summer. The system uses no fossil fuels such as oil or natural gas, and it consumes 25% of the electricity required for a conventional heating/cooling system. Rainwater from the roof is collected and funneled into a 25,000 gallon underground cistern. Wastewater from showers, sinks and toilets goes into underground purifying tanks and then into the cistern. The collected water then irrigates the land surrounding the house. Native flowers and shrubs native to the area blend the property into the surrounding rural landscape.




HOUSE #1 is outside of Nashville, Tennessee. It is the private residence of Al Gore, inventor of the Internet( or so he says) and now global warming expert and doomsday predictionist.

HOUSE # 2 is near Crawford, Texas. It is the private residence of George W. Bush.


________________________________